Facts + Statistics: Pet statistics

 

Pet insurance

The pet insurance industry got its start almost a century ago in Sweden where about half that country’s pets are now insured. In North America, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Nationwide, sold its first pet insurance policy in 1982 to cover a dog playing Lassie on television.

North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) reports North America’s pet health insurance sector posted record growth in 2015, with combined gross written premiums hitting $774 million. This represents a 17.2 percent increase in gross written premiums over 2014. The total number of pets insured reached 1.6 million at year-end 2015 and grew at an average annual rate of 12.0 percent from 2014 to the end of 2015. According to NAPHIA, there are 12 major pet insurance companies in North America.

 

Pet ownership in the United States

Sixty-eight percent of U.S. households, or about 85 million families, own a pet, according to the 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA). This is up from 56 percent of U.S. households in 1988, the first year the survey was conducted.